Sewing welt and trim strip



June 19, 1956 s. D. BRADLEY 2,750,710

SEWING WELT AND TRIM STRIP Filed Dec. 5, 1950 Ila-Jul.

Ill i=3 IN VEN TOR. S TEPHN D. Bun/.5!

United States This invention relates to a sewing welt, and moreparticularly but not exclusively, to a sewing welt especially adaptedfor use adjacent the joints between separate panels of material. One usefor such a sewing welt is to provide an ornamental trim or decorativebead for finishing the interior trim panels of a vehicle body. Thisapplication also relates to the general type of sewing welt disclosed inmy copending application, Serial No. 186,869, filed September 26, 1950.

Trim panels covered with various types of materials are used invariousinterior decorating schemes, as well as for finishing the interior ofvehicle bodies. It is customary in fabricating such panels to provide abacking sheet which may be padded or upholstered, and then covered witha flexible covering of fabric, sheet plastic,

leather, or the like. The ornamental, as well as the utilitarian uses ofsuch panels frequently require the joining of separate pieces of thecovering material. At the present time, a conventional practice is tojoin the separate pieces of the covering, and then mask the joini'riglines by use of a separate rigid trim strip, which strip is appliedafter the covering pieces are joined and mounted on the backing'sheets.Such separate, rigid, trim strips frequently are secured to the panelsby metal clips or the like. In many instances, the seam line may be acurved line for which it is desired to provide an ornamentalbead ortrim. Because of the high cost, and the difficulty in bending the rigidtrim strip, their use on such curved seam lines is not consideredcommercially feasible in many instances.

It is, therefore, highly desirable to eliminate such special costlytrim, particularly in the interior trim panels for vehicle bodies, bythe provision of a suitable flexible, or elastic welt, which may besecured directly to the trim panels during the fabrication thereof,either in connection with a straight seam line, or a curved seam line,and which will provide an ornamental bead that will follow the seam lineand be held firmly against the surface of the completed panel.

In addition, the metallic trim strips discussed above, frequentlytarnish or become corroded after relatively short periods of time.Fabrics frequently used in trim panels are easily and permanentlydiscolored or otherwise damaged by metal polishes, and the like.Accordingly, due to the relatively narrow widths of stock used for suchtrim strips, it has not been possible to maintain the desired highpolish on such trim strips without doing irreparable damage to theadjoining fabric panels. It is, accordingly, desirable to provide a trimstrip having the desirable pleasing appearance of a highly polishedmetallic trim strip, but which is protected from corrosive influences soas to retain its highly polished surface over relatively long periods oftime, and preferably, throughout its entire life.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a weltparticularly adapted for use in fabricating trim panels, and which maybe readily secured to such panels during the assembly thereof.

atent 2,750,710 Patented June 19, 1956 ice Another object of thisinvention is to provide a welt of the above type which maybe sewed, orotherwise secured, to the panels of material in a single operation, thuseliminating the additional cost and labor involved in covering the panelseam with a separate trim strip after assembly of the panels within avehicle body or the like.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a welt having adecorative bead possessing all of the desired appearance characteristicsof a metal trim strip, which may be readily formed to any desiredcontour during assembly thereof without requiring a special preforrningoperation thereon.

Another object of this invention is to provide a welt of the above type,which includes the use of a relatively inexpensive metallic foil havinga highly polished reflecting surface, which surface is protected fromdulling and corrosive influences by a translucent or transparentcovering so as to retain its highly polished surface throughout itsnormal life.

Other objects of this invention will appear in the following descriptionand appended claim, reference being had to the accompanying drawingsforming a part of this specification wherein like reference charactersdesignate corresponding parts in the several views.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of the translucent-ortransparent 'body'forming a part of the present welt, and embodying thefeatures of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the sewing welt of the present inventionshown in assembled relation with a pair of panels of material to bejoined.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the'welt shown in Fig. 2 after assemblywith apair of panels of material, and shown in assembled relation with afoundation and subfoundation forming a backing for the trim panel unit.

Before explaining the present invention in detail, it is to beunderstood that the invention is not limited in itshpplication to thedetails of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, since the invention is capable of otherembodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Alsoitis to be-understood that the phraseology or terminolo'gy employedherein is for the purpose of description and not of'limit a'tion.

The sewing welt 10 embodying the features of the present invention isshown in the drawings including a translucent or transparent body member1 2, which may be extruded or otherwise formed in an elongated strip, asshown fragmentarily in Fig. 1. The body member 12 is provided with alongitudinal recess or slot 16 therein. The member 12 may be formed withthe slot 16 therein or it may be formed as a flat strip and folded atthe fold line 14 to form the slot 16. The sewing Welt also includes areflecting portion or insert 36 (Figs. 2 and 3), which is disposedwithin the longitudinal recess, and has a highly polished reflectingsurface 32, such for example as a metal foil or the like, which isadapted to reflect light through the translucent or transparent bodymember 12 to give the entire welt a metallic appearance.

A relatively short length of the translucent body member 12 is shown inFig. 1 prior to its assembly with the reflecting insert 3%. The samebody member 12 is shown in Fig. 2 after assembly with the reflectinginsert 34), and during the operation of assembling the welt 10 with thepanels of material 40 and 42. The welt It} is shown in Fig. 3 afterassembly with the panels of material, and with the trim panel unit inassembled relation with a foundation 5t) and a subfoundation 52. Thetrim panel unit may be secured directly to the foundation 3 50 bystitching or any other suitable means, or instead, the trim panel unitmay be held in its assembled position by the sub-foundation 52, which isnormally glued or otherwise secured to the foundation 50.

The translucent body member 12 of the sewing welt illustrated in thedrawings is formed of an elastomeric plastic or similar material. It ispreferably transparent if used with a metallic insert, and may be eitherclear or provided with any desired transparent color. As shown, the bodymember 12 is provided adjacent its folded edge 14 with an outer trim orbead portion 18. This outer trim portion of the welt is exposed in thefinal assembled position of the unit to provide an attractive trimhaving the appearance of a metallic trim strip for the assembly alongthe seam line of the panels of material. The trim bead 18 is shownhaving a plurality of corrugations for decorative purposes. Any suitablesurface contour may be provided on the trim bead with out departing fromthe present invention.

In manufacture, the body member 12 is preferably extruded, or otherwiseformed in continuous strips, which may be readily and easily cut to thedesired length during assembly of the trim panel.

The reflecting portion or insert 30 of the welt 10 preferably comprisesa metallic foil or sheet having a highly polished surface 32. This foilmay be provided, if desired, with a paper backing or other rigidbacking, and may have a slight curvature prior to assembly so as toresiliently hold the trim bead 18 firmly against the panel 42 in itsassembled position. In practice, the metallic foil is preferably used inrelatively long continuous strips, which may be readily and easily cutto conform to the length of the translucent body member 12 with which itis to be assembled, and is provided with a Width and thicknesscorresponding generally to the dimensions of the recess 16.

In the assembly of the trim panel unit, the metal foil is first placedwithin the recess provided in the elastomeric, translucent body 12,having its inner portion disposed within the trim bead 18 of the body.The welt 10 is then positioned between the two edges of the panels to bejoined, as shown in Fig. 2, and the entire unit, including the fivelayers of material, are secured together along a common line, indicatedgenerally by the arrow 60. Preferably, the trim panel unit is sewed withthread 62, as shown in Fig. 3, and the upper panel of the material 40 isdoubled back, and subsequently assembled in a well-known manner. Thepanel unit may be secured to the foundation 50, or the sub-foundation 52as described in detail above.

From the foregoing, it is apparent that the sewing welt disclosed abovemay be readily and easily secured to separate panels of coveringmaterials, simultaneously with the sewing of the panels. As pointed outabove, the body of the welt is formed of a translucent material andpreferably of a transparent elastomeric material, and is provided with arecess or slot therein for receiving a reflecting insert, such as asheet of metal foil. The entire welt may be sewed or otherwise securedto the panels of material in a single operation, thus eliminating theadditional cost and labor involved in covering the panel seam with aseparate trim strip after assembly of the panel within a vehicle body orthe like. The present welt is provided with a decorative bead, whichextends along the seam line of the trim panel unit, and possesses allthe desired appearance characteristics of a metal trim strip. However,due to the flexibility of the elastomeric body and the metal foil, thewelts may be readily formed to any desired contour during assemblythereof, without requiring a special preforming operation thereon. Inaddition, the welt disclosed herein utilizes a relatively inexpensivemetallic foil having a highly polished reflecting surface, and thissurface is protected against dulling or corroding influences by atranslucent or transparent covering so as to retain its high polishthroughout the normal life of the sewing welt.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

A trim panel unit comprising a plurality of panels of material joinedadjacent the edges thereof and adapted to form a covering for a backingsheet and a welt extending between and secured along the joined edges ofsaid panels of material, said welt comprising a translucent body formedof strip material and having a fold along a longitudinal line to providea longitudinal recess therein and a reflecting insert member disposedwithin said recess, said panels of material having their edges joined tosaid translucent body member and reflecting insert member adjacent theopen edge formed by the longitudinal fold in said body member so thatthe portion of the body member and reflecting insert adjacent the longitudinal fold forms an exposed decorative bead along the edges of saidpanels of material.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,936,087 Howard Nov. 21, 1933 1,955,187 Howard Apr. 17, 1934 2,164,036Lane June 27, 1939 2,181,926 Tiger Dec. 5, 1939 2,290,007 Valentine July14, 1942 2,334,811 Detrick Nov. 23, 1943 2,349,140 Bolen et al. May 16,1944 2,378,000 Detrick June 12, 1945

